Artist Statement for Ceramic Work

Geological and cosmographical in form, my work is centered around an interest in the dynamic transformation of materials within the context of deep time. This dynamic occurs on several levels to include physical energy exchange and recycling of chemical elements, vapors, minerals, and also the spiritual energy permeating and enlivening all things in a great evolving universal system. At the existential level, global culture experiences pressure to transcend current social values that emphasize growth, wealth, and power via resource extraction and depletion of vital ecosystems.

The intuitive resonance of materials figures heavily in my process. I use a black-firing vitreous stoneware, for its inherent references to both the primordial materials found within meteorites and the Earth’s core. This clay is rich in iron and manganese, the two most dense and heavy of elements to be born in the burning hearts of stars. By physically manipulating the clay through ripping and tearing, I build up the forms through accretion. Pressed into the soft clay are bits of coal slag, a contemporary byproduct of human energy production. This slag is essentially the cremated remains of coal. The coal itself a sacred gift of concentrated ancient sunlight energy, collected by plants. By burning and abusing these materials in the kiln, I create a contrasting substrate on which to layer gilded imagery. Through a subtle pallet of metal impurities, the slag surfaces also act to catch light and glitter faintly like distant stars. I want my sculptures, with their miniscule and glimmering details, to partially enchant viewers while speaking of the fundamental instability in the manifestation of all things.

Environmental consequences of our massive global economy, fueled on carbon rich fossil resources, provoke an existential despair. Yet humanity continues its aspiration to build its physical and conceptual structures ever upward, with each layer transcending the last. The glittering and glimmering objects within my sculptures allude to the spiritual light present in both the creative and destructive forces of the universe. The work is a celebration of both forces.